Marine Life

Marine life, sea life, or ocean life is the plants, animals and other organisms that live in the salt water of seas or oceans, or the brackish water of coastal estuaries. At a fundamental level, marine life affects the nature of the planet. Marine organisms, mostly microorganisms, produce oxygen and sequester carbon. Marine life in part shape and protect shorelines, and some marine organisms even help create new land. Most life forms evolved initially in marine habitats. By volume, oceans provide about 90% of the living space on the planet. The earliest vertebrates appeared in the form of fish, which live exclusively in water. Some of these evolved into amphibians, which spend portions of their lives in water and portions on land. One group of amphibians evolved into reptiles and mammals and a few subsets of each returned to the ocean as sea snakes, sea turtles, seals, manatees, and whales.

Read more in the app

Breathless oceans: Warming waters could suffocate marine life and disrupt fisheries

6 Years Later, Marine Life Still Hasn't Recovered From The Monstrous Ocean Heat Blob

Sea urchins keep on trucking while other marine life languishes in the Florida Keys

How to Respond to Stranded Marine Life

As The Oceans Warm, Marine Life Faces Extinction Levels That Rival The Dinosaurs' End

Unchecked Global Emissions on Course To Trigger Mass Extinction of Marine Life

Effects of noise on marine life

Marine Life In Focus At Underwater Photo Contest